Backwards post pre Great Wall... We flew straight into Beijing from Manchester on a 10 hr flight. We took off at 11:35am UK time and landed just after 5am Beijing time. Flight wasn't great couldn't sleep and was so hot was making me feel sick. 

We got 2 meals on the plane - lunch and hour after take off and breakfast 2 hours before we landed.

Lunch - fish was horrible - bland and dead dry but the other option was sweet and sour chicken which I didn't want. 

Breakfast - Congee with minced beef and peas - everyone got this and didn't have a choice.

We got the hotel to arrange to pick us up. Was so tired couldn't even tell you how long the drive was and the hotel didn't even look like the photos from the booking. When we got out the car we were convinced we were at the wrong hotel. We got to the hotel at like 7am but check in wasn't till 12pm. They had one room available but the bed was really low like on the floor so I passed on it. We ended up just sat in the reception for ages while my mum was arranging how to get to the Great Wall for the next day as it's really hard to get there on public transport and we couldn't book a taxi ourselves as we couldn't download the app and pay being foreigners. Everything is just a nightmare to try and book if it's done online. Eventually got a taxi booked for the morning and ventured out and got some breakfast even though we had food on the plane.

We wandered down the street and found this little place and got some gyoza, baos and congee

Fried dough sticks called "ghosts" you have with your congee

Bean congee is a delicacy in Beijing. Not a fan

Got back to the hotel at 2pm so we could actually check in and get our rooms. Me and Gavin shared a room on the ground floor. Mum and dad were up on the 6th. I didn't actually go up to their room so don't know what their room looked like.

I can't sleep when I'm not in my own bed and usually have a nightmare when I go away but I think I was that exhausted I managed to go to sleep at 2pm (6am UK time) after getting a shower and unpacking. I slept most of the night and didn't get up till 6am the next morning to go the Great Wall.

As this is a backwards post this is the dinner after going to the Great Wall. We went to have the famous roast Peking duck. (Beijing was called Peking before it actually changed in 1980s) The hotel recommend a place to go to and we were walking round for ages trying to look for it, even asking people in the street for directions but couldn't find it. This man ended up taking us to this restaurant that he recommended and said was good. It was quite a fancy restaurant.

We ordered a whole duck...

Not even a full duck just scraped bits of meat off the duck! Don't even know what happens to the rest of the duck as everyone orders the same and you get about 10 pieces of meat and some crispy skin! Nothing like having the crispy duck and pancakes we're used to. The pancakes and the about 5 pieces of cucumber and sauce didn't even come with it we had to pay extra for it! We were really disappointed and it wasn't cheap.

Gavin wanted this deep fried lamb that was spicy.

Prawns

Don't know what this veg is called but it was really nice, crunchy and refreshing

Chinese leaf

Sweet belly pork with abalone - mum ordered

After we went to the supermarket and got some fruit and went back to the hotel

Summer Palace

The next morning - day 2.  Me, mum and dad went to the Summer Palace. Gavin didn't want to come and just basically stayed in bed all day.

We had breakfast at this place that was right next door to the hotel which we didn't notice on the morning we landed as we went in the opposite direction. This ended up being our go to place as it was super cheap too. Typical Beijing breakfast - gyoza, baos and deep fried goods.

The weather was awful, pissing it down and went cold. We went to a phone shop to buy a pay as you go sim card and it was a nightmare. Was like trying to sign up for a contract all the info you had to provide - passport and everything, took ages. When we eventually bought one we walked to the metro station to go to the summer palace.

Tickets were ¥20 (Just over £2) and over 60s were free

Suzhou Street - Actually been to Suzhou when I last went to China in 2016

All the buildings were shut!

The rain eventually stopped

The Long Corridor

Kunming Lake

This lake looks like Hangzhou which is also where I went the last time I was in China in 2016 (was on the same trip I went to Suzhou)

We had to pay to go into the museum so me and my mum sent my dad in on his own as he could go in for free to let us know if it was worth it. He filmed it all and wasn't great so luckily we didn't get tickets to go in.

The palace is huge. So much to walk around but none of the buildings were open which seemed pointless. Then different sections you had to pay extra to get into.

We got the metro back but decided to get off at a different stop thinking it was closer to walk back to the hotel but it wasn't. We asked this young girl for directions and she was looking on her phone for ages and then said I'll just order you a taxi. It's only ¥10 (Just over £1) - mum said she would pay her back and she was like no it's fine "Welcome to Beijing!" She was so nice but the temperature had dropped and was freezing so glad we did get a taxi back.

We went for dinner at this fast food place next to the hotel.

Food wasn't great - mine was cold and had a weird taste. The skewers were nice though.

Few more Beijing posts to go!

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